


Ties that Bind

by Rawrbin



Series: SladeRobin Week 2020 [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Teen Titans (Animated Series)
Genre: M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Protective Bruce Wayne, Reluctant Soulmates, Soul Bond, Soulmates, soul tether, teenage dick grayson
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:21:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27190330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rawrbin/pseuds/Rawrbin
Summary: "I have to tell you I don't much fancy spending the rest of my life in this shit hole of a city."The teen bristles and the Bat twitches minutely, as if an attack on Gotham is an attack on them personally."So, how about we get it over with and sever this soul tether tonight so we can both get on with our lives?"It may be dark but Slade can still make out the darkening of the boy's cheeks."Robin is a-""Yeah, he's a brat, we already established that. If he's old enough to have a soul mate then he's old enough to fuck."-An unexpected soul bond leaves Slade and Robin tethered together. And there's only one known way to sever a soul tether... Will it simply end as a quick fling in the sheets, or is there more to this bond than meets the eye?Written for SladeRobin Week 2020. Day 1: Reluctant Soulmates
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson
Series: SladeRobin Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984852
Comments: 8
Kudos: 78
Collections: SladeRobin Week 2020





	Ties that Bind

Slade knew the Bat was coming even before his enhanced senses heard the vigilante’s boots make soft contact with the rooftop behind him. He could  _ feel _ the approach, and wasn't that strange? 

The Bat wouldn't have caught Slade off guard even if he couldn't feel his sidekick coming though. The location is not inconspicuous. He was waiting here intentionally. 

Slade turns away from his vigil over the Gotham City streets to see Batman slink out of the shadows. Even through the cowl he can feel the weight of the glare aimed at him. It's fine, since Slade is leveling his own back, equally hidden behind his mask. 

The staring match goes on for a few long minutes. Slade blinks several times just to be spiteful since he knows Batman can't see it behind his mask. He's positive the other man's gaze is unwavering. 

"He's a child," Batman finally speaks, snapping the tension between them and getting straight to the point. His voice is deep and dripping in cold malice. 

"You would know," Slade drawls back, because he loves getting a rise out of the vigilante. It's a fun challenge. He counts the tense twitch at the corner of Batman's mouth as a victory, even though he doesn't rise to Slade's bait. 

"Just what are you playing at?" he growls out instead. 

Slade rolls his eyes. He's acting as if Slade had any more choice in the matter than they did. Correction: Than  _ Robin _ did, because this really doesn't concern the Batman at all. As such he ignores the man's question. 

"Robin, you may as well come down here," he calls out. Because he knows he is nearby, even if he hasn't yet made an appearance. And Robin knows he knows, so there's no use in hiding. 

Sure enough with the clunk of a grapple hook the masked teen is soon sailing down onto the roof bedside his mentor. Slade can see the tension visible in his body, every muscle pulled tight like a wire as he levels all his spite onto Slade. 

"What the hell did you do to me?" he spits. It's the first time Slade's ever heard the kid cuss. 

Good to know he's taking everything in stride. 

"Well this may be hard to believe, kid, but this was as much of a shock to me as it was to you. Even I can't control the hands of fate." 

It's true, every word of it. Embarrassingly so. Slade had long ago resigned himself to the fact that he didn't have a soulmate. It wasn't that unusual after all, less than fifteen percent of people ever actually found them. So during all that time he'd spent trying to mold the boy into his apprentice, the idea to touch his skin had never even crossed through Slade's mind. When the Bats tried to interfere with one of his jobs on the Gotham rooftops last night and a misplaced glove ended up with bare skin finally coming in contact during a scrap, Slade had been stunned. Robin's startled gasp had taken the words right out of his mouth. 

Slade had ran. 

Not that he had gotten far. He'd barely made it to the west river when he felt a strong tug keeping him from making his retreat home to Blüdhaven. Instead he'd been forced to get a hotel room and spend the subsequent twenty four hours stuck in Gotham. 

He suspects it was only the daylight that made the dynamic duo wait this long to track him down. Not that much tracking was really necessary. 

Or maybe, like Slade, Robin had needed the time to calm down and accept the bizarre reality that he actually had a soulmate. 

He wonders if, also like Slade, he had spent any of the time devising a way to remedy the situation. 

The Batman always had some kind of scheme, but if he had any solution to this problem he hasn't presented it yet. Thankfully Slade has come up with a plan, even if it's the most obvious one. 

"I have to tell you I don't much fancy spending the rest of my life in this shit hole of a city."

The teen bristles and the Bat twitches minutely, as if an attack on Gotham is an attack on them personally. 

"So, how about we get it over with and sever this soul tether tonight so we can both get on with our lives?" 

It may be dark but Slade can make out a darkening on the boy's cheeks.

"Robin is a-" 

"Yeah, he's a brat, we already established that. If he's old enough to have a soul mate then he's old enough to fuck." 

It's true. For whatever reason soul bonds don't seem to form until after sexual maturity. Even still, there are those who choose to wait until marriage to sever their tether. Usually it's those with the longer range tethers, though he has seen some disgustingly goo goo eyed couples featured on TV reality shows who have tethers of only a few feet and still wait forever to break it, flaunting their love and lack of sex life for all to see. 

"You won't lay a hand on him," the Batman growls out in a way that would make lesser men piss their pants. It makes Slade roll his eyes. 

"And what would you have me do instead? Stay here forever? You know this tether works both ways right? It won't be hard for me to follow the little bird back to his home or his school. And I hope you don't expect him to go on any more of those international missions because he won't get far. Unless you're planning to take me captive and cart me around with you everywhere you go? That's pretty disturbed even for you Bats." 

Batman and Robin just glare across the rooftop at him wordlessly. They know he's right. The only question is how long it will take them to admit it. 

It hadn't taken long for Slade to accept this as the only course of action as he'd contemplated it last night (after he had finished the mini panic attack which he would take to his grave because holy fuck he had a soulmate and it was Robin and how was that possible?). Though it was made easier by the fact that he was in no way abject to fucking the boy. Although he had held Robin as his apprentice for a time he had never viewed the kid in a sexual way. Now that the idea had presented itself however, he couldn't get images of the boy's limber body out of his mind. There would be so many delightful ways to play with that flexibility and he's sure the teen will be quite tight. 

He had spent a good deal of time during the day (admittedly longer than he should have) contemplating the boy's own sexual preferences. Removing a soul tether has never been an issue for a pair of soulmates, because as far as he knows there has never been a pair of soulmates who weren't attracted to each other. That would kind of negate the point. A soulmate was supposed to be your perfect match in every way. 

So he has pondered in depth what about himself would be attractive to the teen. He had been sure that the boy was heterosexual, convinced there was something going on between him and the red headed alien girl on his team. But perhaps it is simply power that attracts Robin. Maybe he is the type who needs to be dominated. 

The idea sends a little shiver through him. If that’s the case Slade would be more than happy to deliver. 

"You try to lay a hand on him and you have to go through me," Batman  _ finally _ replies, stepping forward as if to hide Robin from view. And isn't that just the Batman way. He truly seems to believe that if he wills something to happen hard enough that it just will. Unfortunately nothing can get them out of this soul tether besides the one tried and true method. 

"It's okay, Batman," Robin says, stepping out from behind his dark defender. His jaw is set with determination and he stares right at Slade. 

"Robin. No. You-" 

"I don't like it anymore than you, but you know he's right. There's no other way so we might as well get it over with. We cut the tether tonight and then we're done with all this nonsense forever." 

They both know he's lieing to himself about the second part. Severing the tether does nothing to eliminate the soul bond and everything else it entails. There's no way to remove that, at least one yet discovered by humans. But at least his little birdy is being sensible and removing the tether. He wonders again if Robin is protesting too much about not wanting to spend the night with Slade. 

Batman glares hard at Slade again but doesn't speak, apparently trying to make up his mind. Slade decides to help things along. No use spending more time than necessary on this cold rooftop. 

"I already have a room at the Wayne Luxury Hotel and Suites," he informs them, and he swears he sees the Bat's lips tighten just a bit more. "We can go there now Robin and the tether will be gone by morning. You're welcome to  _ supervise _ if that interests you, Bats." 

The Bat actually makes a swing for him now, and Slade was wondering when that was finally going to come. He dodges easily and by the time the next swing comes Robin is intervening. 

"Batman, stop! Just stop. This is hard enough as it is," he shouts, jumping bodily between them. 

Batman is a man who knows how to compose himself, so when he pauses his assault it's only the intentional flex of his fist that signals to Slade how much he still wants to punch him. 

"If you hurt him…" he growls, eyes never leaving Slade's. 

"You forget he's  _ my _ soulmate. Hurting him will not benefit me." 

They continue staring each other down for a long while. He has to allow the Batman his posturing after all. It's the only way the man will ever agree to this. Not that it's really any of his damn business. Still, it's easier than fighting him. 

"Fine," Batman finally grinds out, then takes a step back. 

Robin remains in place, warm hand still pressed to Slade's chest. 

"I'll be fine, B," he reassures his mentor. 

As Slade stares down at the kid - his new soulmate - he wonders how true that statement actually is. The churning in his gut tells him that somehow, this soul bond is going to change everything for both of them. 


End file.
